Preheat oven to 335° (not 350 it'll be too dark)

Prepare two 8" round cake pans.

Use a baking spray or use a thin coating of shortening and flour, then wrap the pans with wet baking strips to ensure evenly baked cakes.

In a large bowl with a mixer add all the ingredients in the order they are listed. Cake mix, flour, sugar, salt, water, egg whites, butter, sour cream, oil, and vanilla flavors.

Mix on low speed until the mix starts blending, then turn onto medium speed and mix for 2 minutes, scraping the bowl and under the beater after the first minute to be sure they combine fully, then continue mixing until well blended.

Pour the cake batter evenly amongst the two pans and tap the pans gently on the counter so the batter is level in the pans.

Bake at 335° (not 325° and not 350° for a well-risen cake that isn't dark in color).

I set the oven rack set just above the center and it bakes evenly.

I start testing the cakes at 30 minutes, then I test them about every 5 minutes until they are just set and a toothpick comes out clean when tested in the center of the bake.

Remove the cakes from the oven, and allow them to cool for 10 minutes.

Turn the cakes out onto a cooling rack to cool them completely.

Wrap in plastic wrap.

Refrigerate or freeze the cakes so they will stack well and not slide. They don't need to be completely cold or frozen through, you just want them to be firm so they hold up well when stacked and won't slide. The longer you freeze them the easier they are to work with, and will maintain the moisture as well.

Don't forget to print the other recipes:

Strawberry Syrup, choose to strain it or leave the strawberries in like I did.

Pastry Cream (reduce to a half portion if you don't want leftover pastry cream..

Faux Swiss Meringue Buttercream, a quick version of the origional, that is simple and tastes fantastic,